364 workers in Mideast need legal aid

JAKARTA: At least 364 Indonesian workers in Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, require legal protection and aid, the director of the Legal Aid Agency for Migrant Workers (BPHTKLN), Yunus Yamani, said on Sunday.

However, he estimated that there were hundreds more workers, women in particular, facing legal problems but remained undetected because they were employed in many small towns in the two Middle Eastern countries. He added that not all manpower export companies provided legal aid for workers, as required by a 2002 ministerial decree on Indonesian labor exports.

"BPHTKLN has hired lawyers in 14 towns in Saudi Arabia and two lawyers in Kuwait to represent the workers," Yunus told Antara, adding that the agency would soon sign contracts with lawyers in several towns in Jordan, Qatar and Egypt.

Yunus added that an online system had been set up to maintain contact with the overseas lawyers, and to allow the supplier companies and the workers' families to monitor the cases.

"We hope that all cases can be settled ... and the legal aid can also help to decrease the number of problems the workers face and improve their welfare, which has been neglected for the last 20 years," he said. --Antara